Item 12 - Letter from Fr. Isidore Kennedy

Edward Kennedy was born in County Tipperary on 9 January 1897. He joined the Capuchin Order in January 1915 and took Isidore as his religious name. He was transferred to the Irish Capuchin mission in the United States shortly after his ordination to the priesthood in 1924. From 1926 to 1928 he was assigned to the staff of St. Anthony’s College in Mendocino City in California where the friars had established a small foundation to train those aspiring to join the Order. In 1933 he was briefly transferred to Our Lady of Angels Parish in Burlingame. He spent a good portion of the 1930s in Arizona for health reasons after advice from doctors to seek a drier climate. Returning to the Pacific Coast, he spent some time at St. Benedict’s Parish in McKenzie Ridge in Oregon. He remained here until 17 June 1954 when he was appointed Pastor of St. Anthony’s Church in Willits in California. In 1957 he was transferred to St. Mary’s Parish in Ukiah, California. In the 1960s he was a member of the Capuchin community at San Lorenzo Seminary at the Old Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California. During this time, he worked as a chaplain to the Brothers of St John of God Rest Home in Ojai Valley. He spent his final years in a retirement home in Santa Barbara and died on 1 October 1973. He was buried in the cemetery adjacent to the Old Mission Santa Inés.

Baptismal name: Edward Kennedy
Religious name: Fr. Isidore Kennedy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 9 Jan. 1897
Place of birth: Drombane, County Tipperary
Name of father: Thomas Kennedy
Name of mother: Margaret Kennedy (née McCarthy)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 16 Jan. 1915
Date of first profession: 16 Jan. 1916
Date of final profession: 12 Apr. 1919
Date of ordination (as priest): 15 Mar. 1924
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western American Mission in 1924.
Date of death: 1 Oct. 1973
Place of death: Santa Barbara, California, United States
Place of burial: Old Mission Santa Inés, Solvang, California, United States